• About Gamelan
• The Instruments

• The Kontakt Library
• Purchase

"Brilliant and totally authentic , this is a tremendous resource for gamelan aficionados, and a beautiful, colourful, complex set of
sounds to enhance your creative soundtracks" - 5 Stars

Dave Stewart, Sound On Sound Magazine 05/08

The Definitive Balinese Gamelan Library

24GB Library
24Bit 96KHZ Stereo Sampling
25 individual Gamelan Instruments
Up to 20 Velocity Layers
Over 4000 Samples
Multiple Round Robin Layers
Kontakt 2 + 3 Format

The Sum of Many Parts

Sampling the unique, magical sound of a Balinese Gamelan is no small undertaking. The 25 instruments that make up The LSO's Semara Dana Gamelan Ensemble had to be recorded in great detail, as if each were to be a sample library in its own right. Any compromise in the number of velocity layers or the round robin alternate samples could result in the whole living, breathing, sound losing realism and dynamic expression.
All instruments were recorded in stereo, at 24 bit 96 khz to ensure a pristine recording of the very highest standard that will remain the benchmark for years to come.

How is it Organised?

The library is composed of single and paired Kontakt versions of the Gamelan instruments (see picture above). As many of the metallophones are played as a detuned pair, for convenience we have grouped them this way, including KSP scripting to humanise the velocity and timing for a natural response. Paired instruments also feature separate volume and pan controls. Smaller percussive instruments like the Kempli are grouped together, with KSP level and pan controls for fine tuning.

Recreating Every Detail

All possible articulations and variations have been meticulously recorded and programmed into the SC Balinese Gamelan instruments. Keyswitches are used in the metallophones to provide the two articulations, free and damped attacks.
The two kendang drums are mapped with various types of hits, separated into the left and right hands/drum heads, as well as strikes with the pangul, a wooden drumstick.
The Kempli, Bebende and Kajar are recorded open and damped, each with a selection of different beaters.
Each hit of every instrument has many alternative samples, to ensure that 'machine-gunning' never occurs - essential in an instrument that plays such dense percussive sequences.

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About the Audio Demos

We have created a selection of audio demos that show the character and breadth of the SC Balinese Gamelan Library. Some of the demos use additional instrumentation, but mostly they are made with Gamelan instruments only. These are labeled 'Gamelan Only'.

Gamelan has been used in a few famous film soundtracks over the years ; we have tried to evoke some of these in the demos. Also featured are some more traditional pieces written specifically for Balinese Gamelan, to give an idea of the classic Gamelan sound.

The mp3 demos in the player above have been mastered using compression and limiting. They have also been dithered to 16 bit and encoded as mp3. If you would like to hear the unprocessed, un-mastered 24 bit wav files, you can download them here in one zipped file: Demos 147 MB